A wide variety of CE devices such as wireless telephones, digital clocks, etc. leverage digital processing to provide a multiplicity of useful features to users. The present application understands that such devices may be further enhanced by incorporating accelerometer principles.
As understood herein, compact technology known as microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) has been used to establish an accelerometer which, among other things, can measure acceleration above and below the gravitational constant. Essentially, an accelerometer measures acceleration in all three spatial dimensions (e.g., along all three linear Cartesian axes), and the acceleration of an object such as a CE device in space may be correlated to the object's orientation, motion, and to detect taps on the object.
For instance, present principles understand that once an initial orientation is established, acceleration signals may be used to determine if an object is changing its orientation. As also recognized herein, a tap on an object can be sensed using an accelerometer because another object colliding with the accelerometer-bearing object causes a deceleration, e.g., a tap came from the +Z direction relative to the accelerometer makes an impact in the −Z direction. There are several variations to the above properties including tilt, shake, and free fall, but essentially these variations fit into one or more of the three main properties.